Gaara's Vulpix
by Yemi Hikari
Summary: A Vulpix finds Gaara in a meadow, and he wants to keep the creature. (Turned into a collection of random one-shots somewhat related to each other.)
1. Meadow

_Disclaimer – I don't own Naruto or Pokemon. This one-shot was written for thefictionawards and thefanfictionawards June contest over on Wattpad where the theme was Meadow. For some reason this popped into my head._

 **Meadow**

"Can I keep it?"

A breeze blew through the meadow the three siblings from Suna rested in on their journey to the hidden village Konaha. The youngest of the siblings held up a fox-like creature with fur the same color as Gaara's hair. Kankuro leaned up against the tree near where he sat, his mouth twisted down into a frown, leaving the issue up to Temari. The sandy-haired female frowned, noting the curling six tails, but also the tuff of fur which curled in the same manner.

"Gaara..."

"Can I keep it Temari?"

"Why?" Kankuro piped up, his frown suddenly twisting into a smile, his tone of voice filled with laughter. "Why do you want to keep it Gaara?"

Temari gave the older of her two brothers a nasty glare, while Gaara turned the creature around so the big brown eyes looked into his sea-foam green eyes. The young shinobi pondered the question for a few seconds, then spoke up. "It reminds me of someone."

"Let me guess? That idiot Uzumaki?" Kankuro leaned forward, enjoying the moment completely.

Gaara stared for a bit, letting Temari fold her arms across her chest. The eldest of the siblings pondered whether Gaara becoming mentally stable was actually a good thing. The auburn-haired preteen's actions went from being aloof around his siblings, to a strange curiosity regarding everything around him. The creature simply remained hanging from the auburn-haired preteens hands. "Gaara, how did you come to pick up that thing?"

"This thing?" Gaara pondered her question for a few seconds, tilting his head slightly. "I found it."

"Kind of like how you found Uzumaki?" Kankuro let out a sound of annoyance.

"Alright, where did that come from Kankuro?" Temari glared at the young puppet ninja, wondering where his thought process came from.

"Gaara's been infatuated with that Uzumaki kid ever since they had that fight."

Gaara sat down, lowering the red fox-like creature to his lap. "He's my first friend."

Temari let one sandy-colored eyebrow raise up. "Shouldn't he be pleased with this? We should be pleased he finally made a friend."

"I know, it's just..." Kankuro let out a sigh, not speaking his mind at how childish his little brother seemed to be acting. He watched one of Gaara's arms wrap gently around the fox, in a rather unsure manner, and then the other hand begin to pet the fox.

"She's soft."

"So, are you going to name that fox thing Uzukami, or Naruto?" Kankuro let the smile return to his face. "That's who she reminds you of."

Gaara's face twisted into a frown. "Giving a female creature a male name seems cruel. Plus, wouldn't that mean I'd have to name her Rasa?"

The color quickly drained from the older sibling's faces, and Temari stammered. "Wait, that thing reminds you of..." The word father refused to come out of her mouth. "It reminds you of the fourth Kazekage."

"I miss him." The auburn-haired preteen didn't notice his teenaged siblings look at each other. "I know I shouldn't, with everything he did, but he's still family. I want that to be important to me now."

Temari pressed her fingers into her arm, making the knuckles go white. "So, how are you going to get that creature back to Suna, Gaara?" She watched a frown appear on her younger brother's face. "Where are we going to keep it, while we're in Konoha?"

"Oh," Gaara continued to pet the fox until the time came to head on their way. The auburn-haired preteen lifted up the fox-like creature, and set it down into the meadow, patting it on the head. "Sorry, but you've got to stay here."

His siblings watched him get up, and Kankuro turned to Temari. "He didn't say how he found that thing."

The small fox-like creature watched Gaara move, then hurried after the young shinobi. Temari's mouth opened. "I think the thing found Gaara, not the other way around."

"Come on. Gaara is Gaara. Kids run away from him."

"He's changed, though." Temari stood up, placing her large fan back onto her back. "Maybe this is a good thing." She watched Gaara look back at the creature and the creature stop. Her brother proceeded to continue to walk through the meadow, the small fox-like creature keeping up. "I mean, this thing's fallen in love with him."

"Yeah, just wait until he accidently loses it. He doesn't need another thing rejecting him."

"The things following him, so how pray tell do you get rid of this thing? It's also kind of cute."

"Cute! He said the thing reminds him of the old man!" The grass of the meadow brushed by Kankuro's legs.

"The old man wasn't cute, though. He was a monster. This thing, it's cute and sweet. It's a very different situation."

"Except that thing is..." Kankuro let out a shudder.

"Cute?" Temari couldn't help but find amusement in the older of her two brother's reaction. "Gaara's happy, so does it really matter?"

"Why couldn't he have found something that wasn't cute?" Kankuro frowned, watching as Gaara finally gave in, and scooped up the fox-like creature.

"Because I wouldn't have let him keep something that wasn't cute."


	2. Window (9-10-16)

_Note – The reviews left gave me a few ideas for a couple of one-shots to add onto this._

 **Window**

The warm air in the apartment hit the young shinobi as the door opened up forcing Naruto's facial features to wrinkle up, the stuffy smell in his apartment making his nose wrinkle up. Arriving back from a mission to the lonely apartment in need of airing out honestly didn't meet the excited feeling welling in the blond haired ninja's chest. The young man folded his arms across his chest, his lips pushing together as he looked at the apartment, wondering if he should go straight to bed, or open up the windows.

"Eh…" Naruto rubbed the back of his head, before heading over to a window, opening it up, allowing a breeze to float through, helping to cool down the inside. A yawn escaped his lips, before he collapsed onto his futon, not caring about where he left his gear and clothing, not caring about cleaning up the room, simply adding to the mess on the floor. Soon, his snores echoed through the room, as the moon appeared in the window, casting a bright light on an unexpected visitor following a leaf which fluttered onto the floor.

Two round eyes blinked, as nails scraped across the windowsill, a small nose wiggling as a raccoon-like creature appeared. The two eyes blinked a couple of times, before the creature jumped down onto the ground, letting out a deep barking sound. The raccoon-like creature sniffed, heading over to the closet, following the brown nose wiggling at the sent off an instant ramen stash. One small paw reached into the gap, pushing the sliding door open before the creature waddled into the closet.

The sound of something scratching a styrofoam cup, the creature patted the cup back and forth, before rolling over to continue the game. Eventually, the raccoon-like creature rolled back onto the stomach, the muzzle pushing together as a sigh like a yip escaped the creature's mouth, the creatures mind thinking of a new way to open the item. The creature leaped at the instant ramen, sending the food container across the room, bumping into a stack of items which tumbled down, creating a loud noise.

A snorting sound came from the window over at the bed, the person sitting up blocking the creatures escape route. The light clicked open, and the creature dived into the closet as Naruto blinked a couple of times. The young shinobi looked around the room, his eyes setting upon the ramen cup among the increased mess. Naruto let out a sigh, stepping over to the ramen cup, before walking over to the cupboard, kneeling down on the ground to place the ramen cup into the stash.

Naruto's blue eyes widen, his mouth opening up. Sitting in the closet was a raccoon like a creature, blinking their round eyes at him. "Um. Hello. What are you doing in here?"

The creature let out a barking sound, launching at the ramen cup, finally tearing the plastic and paper top. The creature let out a growling sound.

"Ah! No!" The young shinobi scooped up the cup as the creature attempted to eat the dry noodles from the cup. "That's not how you eat ramen!" Naruto's mouth pushed together, his eyes looking down at the cup before tossing the wasted cup into the waste bin. He headed over to the stove, knocking a few empty cups onto the ground, putting on the kettle to boil. He watched the creature, who in turn looked at him.

The strange racoon-like creature let out a whimper, giving Naruto rather big eyes just as the young shinobi's own stomach grumbled. He licked his lips, grabbing a couple of cups, large ones, before putting them on, turning the timer. The racoon-like creature tried going first after the cooking noodles, only for Naruto to scoop the creature up. Then, the creature let out another growling sound before diving at the trashcan. "Ah, no!" The young shinobi quickly tied up the cup and hurried around cleaning the room up slightly before the timer went off. Naruto hurried off, opening the two ramen cups, placing one in front of the creature.

The racoon-like creature dove at the cup, slurping up the noodles faster than the young shinobi did, spilling hot water all over the place, jumping back at the touch of the scalding water, before diving back in. Naruto slurped his noodles. "You know, you shouldn't sneak into people's homes like that. Do you belong to somebody? If you're a cat, ya' can't stay. I don't like cats." The creature continued to slurp up noodles from the rather large cup, making a mess. "And I'm going to need to clean that up. Nah, I think you'll do a good job yourself. Also, you're messy, so you must be some kind of dog. I guess you can stay."

The creature let out another bark.

Naruto's mouth pushed together, letting out a humming sound. "You're kind of a doofus like that. I know! I'll call you Doofus!"

The creature barked as if the creature agreed with the name, despite the absurdity. Naruto continued to slurp the noodles, while Doofus continued to make a mess, only to clean it up. Soon, the racoon-like creature was on the floor, tummy in the air, and rather a rolly polly. The shinobi lay down next to the creature, pushing Doofus back and forth, only for Naruto to let out a yawn.

When he woke, there was no sign of the creature, and the young shinobi thought last night events were a dream. He scooped up the items from the ground, forgetting to change into clean clothes, letting out another yawn, not noticing the wasted ramen cup in the trash. He arrived down below, stretching his limbs up into the air, a smile on his face. "That was a nice dream."

"What kind of dream?"

The laugh drew Naruto's attention to the person, his eyes narrowing, a frown plastering across his face, and his arms crossing his chest. "Oh, it's you."

"So, what was this weird dream of yours?"

Naruto's arms moved from his chest to behind his head as Akamaru barked at him. "Hmm. I dreamed about a weird dog thing."

"You aren't saying Akamaru is weird are you?" Kiba's dog let out a growl

"Uh… no." The blond shinobi heard a familiar barking sound. Naruto turned, pointing his finger at the racoon-like creature. "Ah! Doofus! There you are! You were real!" The young man turned to Kiba, a smile plastered across his face. "See. Funny looking dog. Snuck into my room last night. I guess he's mine now."

"Umm, Naruto?"

"Yeah, what?"

"That's actually not a dog."

"Oh…"

"And did you call the poor thing Doofus?"

"Well, yeah it acts like a Doofus. So why not?"

"You didn't really think much about the name, did you?" Kiba shook his head. "Well, good luck with your new pet." Akamaru barked in agreement, almost as if they were laughing at Naruto.

 _Note – For some reason I confused Zigzagoon and Bidoof in my head, so I had to go back and fix the one-shot. Originally Doofus got his name from the sound Bidoof's make, but he's not a Bidoof, but a Zigzagoon._


	3. Puppet

**Puppet**

Kankuro hated Rasa.

The sixteen-year-old hated both Rasa, not understanding how someone like his little brother, the former psychopathic monster, could ever come to love something as cute, and adorable looking as that strange, red fox-like creature with its brown eyes which hid a deep, dark evil behind them. He middle sibling never knew where his aversion to cute things came from, but alas, Kankuro also knew young males getting attached to cute, adorable things amounted to the most uncool thing a guy could ever do.

Gaara, however, never did anything normally, or in any manner which allowed others the freedom to endear themselves to the youngest of the three siblings. The preteen never minded the fact, at least until after the chunin exams, but after the fact Gaara became super aware of how people saw him, and yet still never picked up on any of the important social cues and customs which came so naturally to his older siblings.

This frustrated Kankuro to no end, making the teen ground his teeth together in frustration.

The small creature following after the auburn-haired preteen quickly drew attention, despite the efforts by the three siblings to remain unnoticed. Kankuro wondered in part if one of the reasons their appearance remained unnoticed lay with the fact the fox-like creature distracted his younger brother, who would glance back at the small creature. The men at the gate seemed quite fine with letting the creature in with them, and the so far unnamed creature followed the three to Lady Tsunade's home, where she and her assistant created the siblings.

"What is that thing?" Shizune stared at the fox-like creature, while Tsunade simply smiled at the three, unsure of how to address the appearance of the strange, an unknown creature in the midst of their village.

Gaara's head turned, his facial features looking at the creature. "I don't know. Temari said I could keep it."

"Oh, she did, did she?" Tsunade smiled at the young shinobi. "Why don't we head upstairs to discuss your living arrangements for while the three of you are here in the village?"

Temari's hands shot up. "Oh, no need. We brought money to pay for lodging, so…"

"Nonsense. I would be amiss in my duties as fifth Hokage should I not play proper host to the children of the fourth Kazekage."

Kankuro's teeth ground together, his hands reaching up to grab onto one of the straps keeping Crow attached to his back. A feeling of relief washed over the young puppet master upon realizing nobody noticed this reaction to the mention of his father, and thus the fifteen-year-old found himself able to follow after the fifth Hokage without any kind of questioning.

The five arrived in a small sitting room, and Tsunade invited them to sit. The small fox-like creature ran around the room, investigating everything, before jumping into Gaara's lap, letting the preteen gently stroke its fur. Tsunade took a deep breath. "So, Gaara, have you thought of a name for that creature?"

Gaara's head darted up, his attention drawn away from the creature. 'Rasa."

"Um…" Tsunade's blue eyes blinked a couple of times.

The brown-haired teen, however, felt everything boiling over. "Gaara! You decided to name that thing after the old man! Seriously!"

"Why not?"

The fifth Hokage stood up, walking over to the young shinobi. "Hold on. May I see?" Gaara simply stared, watching as the woman gently lifted up the creature. "Yup. This creature is definitely female, not male. Are you sure you want to name her Rasa?"

Gaara stared, confusion written all over his facial features. "Yes. Why?"

"That's a name for males Gaara, not females." Kankuro's teeth ground together, wondering how the auburn-haired preteen managed to be super smart, and yet so dense at the same times.

"Why?"

"Because…" The questions about why people did things drove the fifteen-year-old up the wall. "How should I know."

"He can name her whatever he wants to, Kankuro." Temari glared at the older of her two brothers, reminding him she gave the orders in their ragtag family.

The name still made the fifteen-year-old want to throw up. Tsunade let out a sigh. "So, about where you three will be staying."

The oldest of the three held up her hands, Temari's mouth twisting up. "We have money for our lodgings."

"Doesn't that though Suna, or yourselves? I have a room prepared for the three of you here at my residence. It will make it easier for me to get in touch with you while you're here."

The sandy-haired sibling pushed her lips together, frustrated the Hokage one-upped her. Instead of continuing to argue, Temari bowed to her, thanking the woman for the room. The three stood up to follow Tsunade to the room. Gaara lifted up Rasa into his arms, carrying the female, fox-like creature cradled in the preteens arms. The door to the room slid open, revealing a rather nice, traditional room. Kakuro let his puppet thump down, watching Gaara head over to the corner of the room, the small fox-like creature snuggling down into the preteen's lap as soon as he set sand gourd set down nearby.

The fifteen-year-old let out a sigh, sliding down beside his puppet, watching Gaara's seafoam eyes bat a few times, his hand stroking the small thing in his lap. Temari sat down nearby. "What does she feel like Gaara?"

"Soft."

"Do you like that?"

"Yes."

"It's not as if that thing will stick around." Kankuro watched Gaara's eyes widen, and his hands shot up. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean you don't deserve to have that thing stick around, but people tend to be a disappointment."

"Rasa's not a person."

Kakuro's mouth opened up to say something about their father being a monster, wishing Gaara's choice in name differed. The fifteen-year-old closed his eyes, dozing off. A soft snoring sound made his eyes snap open, Kankuro's brown eyes blinking a couple of times. Gaara's eyes were closed, the small fox-like creature still in his lap, his small hands limp at his side. His mouth open, his voice straining. "Temari…"

"Hmm?"

"Is Gaara asleep?"

"Him having insomnia doesn't mean he doesn't sleep at all. It means he struggles to sleep."

"Still, he might…"

"I'm not going to try and wake him."

Kankuro let out a sigh, standing up, pulling his puppet back on, his body moving towards the preteen slowly. His hand reached out, just in time for two brown eyes to open up, looking at him in a very evil manner. The young man gulped, watching as the fox-like creature open its mouth. The thought of the creature barking him to death amused him greatly, as this would never happen.

The embers coming from the mouth hitting his puppet made the fifteen-year-old nearly jump out of his skin as his puppets lit on fire. Kankuro let out a yelp as Gaara's eyes opened up, his hands quickly patting at the puppet to put out the fire, before finishing up by blowing on his hand. His eyes narrowed at Rasa, the fire demon, fox-like thing, while Gaara blinked at him, his seafoam green going wide. "What happened?"

"Your stupid pet tried to kill my puppets!"

Gaara lifted up the fox-like creature, holding her up so her brown eyes were next to his own, his mouth forming into a pout, something Kankuro never thought he'd ever see from the preteen. In fact, he wondered where Gaara learned to make such a face, the facial features of the fifteen-year-old flinching, a strangled sound escaping his lips. "How could she do that? She's cute."

The word cute escaped his younger brother's lips, reminding him of the fact boys weren't supposed to be in cute things. Kankuro, however, remembered why he disliked cute things. They tended, like a certain aburn-haired six-year-old six years ago, turn out to not be so cute. Temari cleared her throat. "Um, Gaara?"

"Yes?"

"You're little fox friend. She can breathe fire."

Gaara's eyes blinked a couple of times. "So?"

Yes, Kankuro hated both Rasa.


	4. He's Alive (1-17-16)

**He's Alive**

He was tired.

Locked away with the ability to move with ease taken away, his body became physically weak. The lack of proper nourishment meant his chakra stores were depleted. Only time would return himself to the way he once was, and yet time was against him due to his age.

Then he found out everyone thought he was dead.

The knowledge simply drained Rasa even more, and yet he couldn't return to his old life. Things would simply be difficult, particularly when his youngest would likely kill him on site. There was no telling what kind of trouble occurred in Suna while he was gone. Baki patted him on the shoulder, making the fourth Kazekage note the difference in personality. "I'll take you to see the fifth."

"Actually, I would like to see my children first."

"I'm not sure…"

"… that it is a good idea?" Rasa looked away. " _I'm aware there may be a negative reaction._ "

"I think we should head to the Kazekage's office first, rather than your family home."

"No. I need to see my children, particularly Gaara." The previous Kazekage remained stubborn, hobbling on the crutches provided for him. He arrived at the household, and Baki opened the door for him, his lips pushed together. The man's eyes widened upon seeing a strange creature come out of the living area. The creature was mostly green and looked somewhat like a human. There was a plant like an element to the creature, with a red flower on the top of its head. The center of the flower looked like a crown.

Temari came out after the creature, carrying with her another crass like creature. The creature was best described as cute, with three leaves sticking out of its head. Rasa shook his head just as his daughter turned to look at him. "You shouldn't be here. I mean…"

"They didn't tell you?"

"Oh, they told us. I thought you would be under Lady Tsunade's care for a bit more time."

"Do your brother's know?"

His daughter took a deep breath. "Well…"

"Where are they?"

"Kankuro is in his studio."

"And…"

Temari looked past her father at Baki. "He doesn't know?"

Rasa took a deep breath, not catching the fact his daughter's words were a question. "Never mind. I'll see Kankuro first then."

Navigating on the crutches was no easy task, and soon he found himself knocking on the door to his son's studio. Kankuro called out, telling him to come in, so Rasa took this as him being welcome. Baki opened the door, the look on his eyes saying otherwise. He found Kankuro working away at his desk, the teen not looking up to see him. Next to him were three acorns like creatures. In the shadows, he saw two others, varying slightly. A couple more of the acorns ran across the floor, making Rasa jump.

"What are these things?"

Kankuro started, before looking up. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm your father."

"I didn't invite you in here."

"You did."

The teen took a deep breath. "Look, I said to come in because I didn't expect it to be you. I thought it might be Gaara. He comes in here sometimes."

"He…"

"I'd appreciate it if you would leave."

"About…"

"What those things are, are none of your business."

Rasa sighed, before leaving, his mouth pushing together. Baki closed the door behind him. "Where's Gaara? His room or the roof?"

"Actually, you're likely to find him in the Kazekage's office."

The auburn-haired man sighed. " _So he was asked to wait there for me._ "

They headed towards the office, Rasa hobbling along as he went. They arrived outside of the door, and he heard Gaara speaking from inside.

"Rasa is a good fox, is Rasa not?"

Rasa's eyes blinked, his mouth opening in confusion. He turned towards Baki, only to see a twinkle of mirth in the man's eye. "I don't find this amusing."

"Yes, sir." Baki opened the door up, and what Rasa saw surprised him. Gaara sat behind the desk in the robes of Kazekage, lifting up a strange fox-like creature. Baki spoke up, clearing his throat. "Lord Gaara?"

Gaara's eyes widened, before he stood up, holding the fox like creature in his arms before heading over to Rasa. The man watched the teen smile at him – for Gaara was indeed a teen now. The smile was like the smile the auburn-haired child gave him when he was little, but so was the look in his eyes. "Father."

Rasa took a deep breath. "Gaara." His eyes looked at the strange creature. "What is that?"

His finger pointed at the fox creature, which his son looked down at. "This? Her name is Rasa."

Rasa's eyes blinked a couple of times. "I think we should talk. Do you mind?"

"Not at all."

The man took a deep breath, wondering what occurred while he was gone. He found himself sitting across from Gaara, his tiredness growing even more. "So…"

"I'm glad to see you."

"I'm aware of that." Rasa watched his youngest carefully. "In fact, it seems you're far more pleased with seeing me than your siblings."

Gaara's mouth twisted into a frown. "Oh…"

"I'm also guessing when your sister said "he didn't know", she meant me not knowing you're Kazekage, and not you being aware that I'm alive."

"I am glad."

"You named a creature after me."

"She reminded me of you."

The comment wasn't flattering in the fact this was something one expected of a five-year-old child naming their pets, and yet coming from Gaara, the comment seemed quite appropriate. Gaara carefully petted the top of the foxes head, being far more gentle than Rasa ever remembered. " _No. He was a very gentle child once. He simply didn't understand his own strength._ "

"I missed you."

Rasa took a deep breath. "After everything, I did to you? Why?"

"You're my father."

That, however, did not explain things. "And?"

Gaara frowned, looking away. "I know I've never done anything to make you proud. I know you hate me as well. I can't help the fact you are someone precious to me, though. Like Temari and Kankuro are."

"And what does that mean?" The auburn-haired man wasn't sure where this would go.

"To have something precious means you have something to protect. Like Suna. That too is precious." Gaara's comment made the corner of Rasa's mouth twitch. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No…" The previous Kazekage took a deep breath. " _It's simply a matter of you not acting like yourself, and yet this isn't a bad change._ "


	5. Visiting Lee (1-18-17)

**Visiting Lee**

Sakura took a deep breath, noticing the two sand siblings standing nearby. She couldn't fault Lady Tsunade in attempting to make connections with Suna to rebuild the trust between the two hidden villages. However, she wasn't sure she liked the fact those three came back, as she remembered quite well how creepy all three were.

Also, one was missing, doing who knew what.

The worst part was it was the worst one to be visiting just about then.

Letting out a sigh, she headed to the flower shop to get her usual flowers for Lee, noticing how disappointed Ino locked. That meant Ino had not seen Sasuke today. She bought her usual flowers, before stopping short. The other girl raised one eyebrow up. "What? We have no missions or training, so I'm stuck helping out at the shop."

"Those three are back. You know, the shinobi from Suna."

"Oh. Thanks for letting me know. I guess. Not that I'm scared of them."

Sakura sighed, knowing Ino was lying. She headed to the hospital, hoping nothing strange would occur. The thought of "strange" running through her head was yet another disaster. The nurses were normally happy to see her due to the fact her flowers tended to cheer up Lee. For some strange reason, they were instead nervous. She headed down the hallways, no answers seeming to be forthcoming when she stopped short.

Hinata stood outside of Lee's door, looking in much in the same manner she did when she stalked Naruto. Sakura let out a sigh, wondering exactly what her fellow genin saw in her yellow-haired teammate. Shaking her head, she crept closer, thoughts of Hinata's crush transferring to Lee and becoming even more strange. Sakura arrived nearby and leaned into a whisper. "Hinata…"

The dark haired beauty jumped, turning to look at the other girl, stammering as she did so. "Um… Sakura…"

"Are you here to see Lee as well?"

"Um, not really."

Sakura sighed, wondering what Hinata meant by this. The idea the other girl meant stalking instead of visiting seemed odd, as there wasn't much difference. Both resulted in seeing the person after all. Sakura started in, only to freeze upon seeing her worst nightmare.

Visiting Lee was Gaara, the person who caused the injuries

Even creepier was the fact Hinata was staring at Gaara, making Sakura suddenly think the auburn-haired shinobi was her new interest. A shudder ran down her spine, her thoughts on how creepy this was.

"Ah! Sakura! You're visiting me as well today! The surgery went well, but I am unfortunately banned from training by both Sensei and Lady Tsunade, so I am very bored."

"Ga… Gaara's here?" Sakura stepped forward, pulling the other girl with her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hinata blush slightly.

"Oh. Neji's cousin is here too. And yes, Gaara came to apologize. I told him I will be fine in no time. He happened to bring his friend with him."

"Friend?" Sakura's curiosity got the better of her, and she stepped forward. She latched onto the sleeve of Hinata's clothing, pulling her with her. Having the girl with her wasn't a bad idea. If anyone might stand a chance to punch through should Gaara go nuts, it was her? Stepping forward, she saw the most adorable little fox creature she'd ever seen sitting in the auburn-haired shinobi's lap.

Sakura couldn't help but stare, wondering why the creature had taken an interest in Gaara, let alone was letting him hold onto her. In fact, was the thing even a she. Hinata began to stammer. "Um, what is… the name?"

"Rasa."

The pink haired preteen brushed a lock of her pink hair behind her ears. "Rasa?"

"That's the Kazekage." Gaara lifted up the creature to show her off. Sakura could tell the creature was female then.

"Isn't he dead?" Hinata asked.

"Yes."

" _Leave it to Gaara to be morbid about such things._ " Another thing bothered her, though. "Isn't the Kazekage a he, and that fox thing she?"

"So?"

Sakura cleared her throat. "And you named her after him."

"She reminds me of him."

Gaara seemed proud of the name as if it were some kind of achievement. Then again, the fox thing growing attached to him was also an achievement in itself. He was actually smiling, and happy. The smile reminded her of a little kid who just learned their first jutsu, and yet he was the same age as her.

"I think it is rather nice that Gaara named her after her father."

"Oh." Sakura wasn't sure what to think of that particular revelation, and instead watched as Gaara placed the fox back into his lap and began to pet the creatures head. Seeing someone who didn't care about life suddenly cares about life seemed odd. "Were you close to your father?"

The smile faded into a frown. "No."

" _That just makes this even odder._ "

Hinata began to stammer, her comment coming later than it should have. "I think you naming it after your father is nice. I'm sorry you weren't able to get close to your father."

"That's the way things are in Suna."

Sakura's heart melted a bit. " _There is a reason he is the way he is, or was._ "

"May I pet her."

Gaara's eyes widened, almost as if he wasn't sure. "If she'll let you. She doesn't let Kankuro touch her."

Hinata very timidly reached out to touch the creature, and soon she was stroking its head. "How soft!"

Sakura leaned forward. "And me?"

The auburn-haired shinobi said nothing, and soon Lee and she were petting Rasa as well. The idea of petting the Kazekage creeped her out a bit, and yet she couldn't imagine what he might have looked like while he was alive. Her eyes widened slightly, noting the auburn color to the fur. "Gaara, does she remind you of your father because of the color of her hair."

"Yes." Gaara piped up. "She also gets mad at Kankuro. A lot."

A slight laugh escaped Sakura's mouth. There was something childlike about the young shinobi, and the way he acted now made her wonder how he could ever hurt someone. It was also odd that someone her age acted like a child, something she'd never encountered before. "You know, I rather like this side of you."

"I don't follow."

"Um…" Hinata paused in her petting, looking at Gaara. "You were rather scary before."

The small aburn-haired shinobi looked her in the eye, tilting his head. This made Hinata dive behind Sakura. Gaara looked away. "Sorry."

"You're just misunderstood."

"Temari said that, but I'm not sure if I believe her."

"No. If this is the real you, I like it."

"Those in our village didn't."

"You shouldn't let what your father said to get to you." Lee piped up.

"Yes. You should never give up. That's my ninja way." Hinata piped up, trying to encourage Gaara from behind Sakura. Soon, she couldn't resist and started petting Rasa again.

"It wasn't just him."

"The other children." Sakura somehow knew, remembering how the other girls would pick on her for her big forehead.

"Yes."

"Well, they were wrong. I would have loved to have been your friend."

"I choose how I reacted."

Sakura wasn't quite sure of that, remembering how little children weren't in control of how they acted. Instead, her focus returned to Rasa. "She is adorable."


End file.
